Chapter 2: The Disappearances
On the cold dark and damp streets of Oxford a near the docks a fire blazed, a celebration was occurring people sang and danced and drank. These people were known as Gyptians, Nomads who traveled this world by boat hardly setting foot on land except for certain rare occasions.
However today was a special day. The song of the Gyptians echoed across the air.
"Rejoice for your path is secure"
" For all the journeys to be endured"
" Rejoice for your path is decided"
" You and daemon back to the flame, undivided"
The gyptains cheered drinking from their mugs. A woman and her two children stood on the stage at the center of the room. "We are here... to give thanks and tribute. My son's daemon... has settled as a hawk." She said motioning to the teenage boy next her, a hawk sat on a stand next to him.
"Lyuba... soul, companion and protector of my son... I welcome you in your settled form to my family, my boys, and my trust. This ring confirms the settling of your daemon and your transition from child to man." She placed a simple gold band on her sons finger.
The crowd cheered as she continued her speech. "Who here will help guide Lyuba and Tony?" A man with a hawk daemon raised his hand. "Sura and I will. Thank you, Benjamin De Ruyter!" "As symbolised by the ring, forged from the silver that all you families donated... Pleasure. Happy to. Yes. ... we ask that you uphold the Gyptian ways. Others may see us as outcasts, but we are one unified family, and so we ask... you and Lyuba to protect and fight for the freedoms of all, no matter what may stand in our path."
"Do you both... accept our ways?" We do. Lyuba the hawk daemon answered. "Yeah, we do, we do." Said Tony somewhat hesitantly. The crowd cheered as the woman hugged her son. "Oh, I'm losing my little boy." Ma don't say that.
A little boy appeared next to the older boy this was her youngest son Billy. Maggie Costa smiled at her youngest son and hugged him. "Oh, both my little boys." She smiled watching her youngest son wander off to play with the other gyptian children.
"He's been following me and pestering me all day and night, before the ceremony." Tony said annoyed. Maggie sighed. "You became a man tonight." He looks up to you. "He wants to know you're still his big brother."
"Of course I'm still his big brother." Maggie smiled ruffling her eldest sons dark hair. Go on, go. "Catch Billy and... and tell him." Meanwhile down near the edge of the docks Billy walked with his daemon Ratter when he heard the sound of someone whistling.
The rat daemon looked up memorized heading towards the sound. "Ratter, what is it? Ratter, no!" The boy followed after his daemon only for a net to be thrown over him. Meanwhile Tony searched for his younger brother.
"Have you seen Billy?" He asked a man who just shook his head. "Billy, where are you? Billy, are you out here?" Fearing the worst the older boy ran out onto the docks however he soon came upon a shocking discovery. Sitting on the dock the lenses cracked...Were his little brothers glasses.
Meanwhile back at Jordan collage the meeting having ended a long time ago Asriel sat in front of the fireplace. He looked slightly drained the meeting had definitely not gone the way he'd wanted.
Asriel was about to turn in for the night when his daemon reminded him of something important. "The boy." What? Oh, yes. He lifted the lid of the box and smiled at what he found. The small child lay sound asleep his daemon lay curled up next to him.
He carefully lifted the child and daemon out of the box taking the boy back to his room. He opened the door and carefully laid the boy on his bed pulling the blanket over him. However as he turned to leave the boy spoke up.
"Did they vote to give you the money?" Asriel turned to see the boy now sitting up in his bed. "Now you wake up!" The boy looked at him impatiently. "Yes, they did." He said with a tired sigh.
"What's Dust?" It's nothing to do with you. "Yes it does. You told me to spy for you. Now you have to tell me what I was spying about." Asriel sighed. "Quentin, there are things that... There are such things... that you're better off not understanding just yet."
"Can I see the man's head? No! Why would I let you do that?" The man gave a tired sigh glancing at out of the corner of his eye. "The Master... can we still trust him?" The boy asked his uncle nervously. "I don't trust anyone." Now go to sleep, Quentin. "Take me North with you." The boy pleaded. "Goodnight, Quentin.
The deformed boy gave a tired sigh realizing he would get nowhere with his uncle at least not tonight. "Goodnight uncle." Asriel watched the boy until he was certain he was asleep before he closed the door behind him.
Meanwhile the headmaster sat with in his office with Quentin's teacher the librarian they sat speaking in hushed whispers of what had recently taken place. "I have no idea how, but he knew. He spilt the decanter himself."
"Forgive me, Master, but I can't help being relieved." I was never happy about the idea. "Of murder." He said shuddering. "Hardly anyone would be happy with that idea, Charles. But the balance of Jordan College was at stake." Said the headmaster darkly.
"There is a great change coming that will threaten us all. And the alethiometer warns of appalling consequences should Asriel continue his research. Apart from anything else, the child will be drawn in... This is about, Quentin?! The Old man named Charles said looking shocked. "Yes. He has a part to play in all this, and a major one. The irony is he has to do it all without realising what he's doing."
"But he's just an innocent boy!" Charles said looking appalled. "And he needs to stay one... which has meant protecting him, making sure the college was unimpeachable. But there's little chance that Asriel's heresy will not get back to the Magisterium."
"You're saying, we have to let him go?" Charles said shocked. "The alethiometer says that Quentin has to make a journey. What kind of journey? One which, I'm afraid, includes a great betrayal.
"Well, who's going to betray him? Asriel?" The headmaster stared at the ground. "That's the saddest thing... he will be the betrayer. And the experience will be terrible." We can keep him here. We must! "I know you care for him, and you've truly taught him as well as you could, Charles, but all we can be is scared for him. And scared of him."
Quentin sat up in his bed when he heard a knock at his door. He smiled when he saw Lyra peek her head in. In her hands was a tray with his breakfast on it. Lyra was always the one to bring him his breakfast in the morning, not that he minded. He enjoyed his friends company.
"Great, you're here! I'm starving." I brought you an extra sausage. "You mean you got an extra for yourself." He said with a smirk. "This may be true." The two burst into laughter. He grabbed a muffin from the tray and took a large bite out of it.
"I missed dinner last night." I noticed. "Where were you?" In a cupboard. "The whole night?" "Most of it. It's... complicated." He said with a shrug. "Have you ever heard about Dust?" Dust? "I'm guessing you don't mean the stuff we polish off?" He shook his head. No not that. "Where should I start?" He muttered.
"Are you all right, Quentin?" Lyra said giving him a confused stare. "Sorry, Just thinking aloud." "So did I miss anything last night?" Well, there's two things you need to know. "A Gyptian boy, Billy Costa, is missing."
"Billy Costa?" Where had he heard that name before. "Oh , I remember him... Tony's brother?" He knew Tony Costa they weren't good friends, but they knew each other. "Some people are saying there's a man with bright eyes, others say it's a singing man with a fox daemon. It's got to be the Gobblers." The Gobblers? The boy sighed. Not this again.
"I've told you, the Gobblers are a myth, Lyra, they don't exist!" The Gyptians will find Billy. Fine. "But don't blame me when I get to say I told you so." The deformed boy rolled his eyes. You said there were two things what's the second.
"Second thing... your uncle's packing up an airship to leave." The boy stared at her in shock. "Not without me he isn't!" He shouted as he leapt from his bed heading towards the stairs. "Quentin!" Wait! Quentin! She a frustrated sigh as she chased after him.
"Uncle! Uncle!" The boy Called out as he ran towards the airship. "What?! What are you doing here? I'm busy!" Asriel shouted over the noise of the airship. "You're not leaving!" Asriel sighed. "I can't stay! The Magisterium will be on to me by now. Besides, I got what I came for."
"Be a good boy, try and learn something, and I'll see you on the way back." The boy looked pleadingly up at his uncle. "Please, Uncle, you've only just arrived, we've hardly talked!" We need to go. A man shouted from on board the aircraft.
"Please, Uncle!" Asriel ignored him as he shouted at the piolet. Lines up! He turned back to look at the boys tear stained face. "I am sorry, but I just don't have time for you right now." I... Let's go. Asriel shouted at the airship captain.
In a fit of desperation the boy shouted out at his uncle one last time. "Take me North! You promised you would!" Take me with you, we'd have lots of time then! He begged. "The North is no place for a child." I'm sorry.
"Did it look like this?" What? "The airship that my parents died in?" No. No, it was smaller. Asriel said stumbling backwards slightly his face pale. Asriel stared at the boy as the airship lifted into the air. "He's better than you think he is. Said Asriel's assistant He's special. "Everyone's special!" Said Asriel annoyed.
Meanwhile at the gyptian camp a group of men stared at a map. "So, where?" Asked their leader. "We've searched here and here. Nothing. We covered all the abandoned wood." A blond-haired man said pointing to the map.
"There was nothing... Lord Faa. Where is Ma Costa?" The man with the blonde hair and beard asked. "We told her to wait on her boat in case Billy returns there." And the rest of our people? "State Police have shown no interest." Lord Faa said with distain.
"Hmph. No surprises there." The blonde-haired man said. "So we're organising teams of our own. We've got a group that went North from Magdalen Bridge up the Cherwell. Nothing. We divided Jericho, we staked out the Airship Station."
"John, the Gobblers will have got him out of Oxford by now." Said The blonde-haired man. "You think it's the Gobblers?" The men turned to see tony Costa standing in the doorway. "The Gobblers haven't took my brother. That's just a children's story."
"No. The Gobblers are real. John Faa and I have visited six different Gyptian communities, all having children taken, all the same way. "The blonde-haired man replied. "Yeah, but why? What can they want with them?"
"That we don't know. We don't know what they do, but we will find out. We have word they are taking the children to London. Maybe it's the best way to hide them? But we must go and try!"
Tony looked shocked. "Wait, leave here? No, no, Ma would never agree to that! Billy's lost, he's not been taken." John Faa sighed. "Continue the search. Cover as much of this area as we can today. And if we do not find him here, we'll go to London and find him there." He said to the other men. Tony sighed taking out his little brothers glasses from his pocket. "Where are you, Billy?"
"Well, if he won't take us, I'll find another way to go North." Quentin said as he paced around the room. "You are aware that I work here right? And you're pretty much stuck here because we're orphans and both of us have no money."
Quentin sighed. "I know, I know but sometimes you've got to have dreams. We're going North, Lyra." I just know we are. "If you say so." She said shrugging her shoulders.
Meanwhile at the Magisterium main headquarters a man with a snake daemon waited patiently in a large room. Another man stood next to him. "Are you certain of what you saw. Yes I'm certain! "He worked them up into a fervour, they were almost riotous by the time he finished."
"We're sure this information is...correct?" The man nodded. "I had good people inside the room." So Asriel claims he can see Dust now?" The man said somewhat amused. "It's not what he can see, it's what he claims to see through it."
"A hidden city. Other worlds." The Master of Jordan College risks him saying as much?" Scholastic Sanctuary. "The Master cannot be so naive as to imagine that Scholastic Sanctuary protects him from the accusation of heresy." The other man said laughing.
"Asriel clearly got the better of him." The man with the snake daemon said. "They've given him an enormous amount of money - to travel North and continue with his work. "Discover all you can and by all means permitted.
"This kind of heresy is of the highest priority to the Magisterium." I shall take it to the Cardinal. Yes, Father. "I need to know where he's going and what exactly...he intends to achieve. "I will do all that I can.
The man with the snake daemon said turning to leave. "Oh, Boreal." Yes, Father? Boreal said to priest. "Not a word to any of our mutual friends." That includes her. However the woman in question was on her way to Jordan collage as they spoke.
Quentin sat at a table with several other scholars as they prayed. However to his surprise a woman with a monkey daemon entered the room. The woman had dark hair and dark eyes her clothes neat and crisp she approached the table were he sat much to his surprise.
"Good evening, Mrs. Coulter." The headmaster said standing to greet her. "Good evening, Master." She said giving the old man a charming smile. "Quentin, this is Mrs. Coulter, she may be of some interest to you."
The woman gave the deformed boy a kind smile much to his surprise. Oh. H-Hello. I-Its nice to meet you. The woman sat down next to him. "I'm not used to the grandeur of this at all. You'll have to tell me which knife and fork to use." Oh. He said laughing almost. "I don't want to make a fool of myself."
"Are you a female scholar?" You seem surprised. "Well, female scholars don't dress like you." I'll take that as a compliment. "M-My friend L-Lyra has always wanted to be a scholar." Really? Well she sounds like a remarkable young lady.
"And what about you?" She said giving the boy an inquisitive stare. "I-I-I don't know I've never thought about it before. "I-I'm not that good at anything really." Nonsense. A smart boy like you. "I'm sure your better than you give yourself credit for.
The boy stared at her shocked. "Truth be told boy I'm not really a scholar, I'm a member of St. Sophia's College. Most of my work takes place outside Oxford." O-Oh. "But I'm not interesting." She said smiling at him. But You are.
M-Me? "Tell me about yourself, Quentin. "O-Oh, well, nothing to say, r-really!" So, reports you use the rooftops as your private thoroughfare are completely false, are they? The boy looked slightly embarrassed as well as surprised.
"H-How do you know about that?" The woman gave him a bemused smile. "You are quite something, aren't you? I'm surprised Asriel doesn't talk about you more." The boy jaw dropped. "Y-You know my uncle?"
"Oh, yeah, we occasionally bump into each other at the Arctic Institute." You're an explorer too?! Oh, that's such a grand word. But, yes, I suppose I am. The woman motioned for him to follow as she got up from her seat.
The boy followed after her bombarding her with more questions. Have you...? Have you ever seen an armoured bear? Or Tartars?! "Well, I've negotiated with bears. It's much more tiresome than it sounds." I've fought Tartars and that can actually be quite fun.
"But does this really interest you?" I am capable of being quite boring sometimes." No, no, no, no. "Where the North is concerned, you could never bore me." Mrs. Coulter smiled. "Well, my favourite moment is early morning, when the sky is high, and the land seems endless."
"All that's in front of you is fresh unbroken snow. You feel utterly alone...and you feel utterly magnificent." I want to feel like that. The boy said memorized. Take a seat, Quentin, She said motioning to a bench behind her.
The boy hesitantly sat down, and she sat down across from him. "Quentin, do you know why I'm here? The boy shook his head. "The Master has asked if I can find a place for you and, naturally, I wanted to meet you first."
"And now that I've met you, I like you, and I want to offer you a position as my assistant." The boy stared at her in disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, was he dreaming. "Now, you'll need to learn fast, and I won't take any slacking."
"But I think with your enthusiasm and my know-how we could make quite the team." The boy looked up at her eagerly. "We'd go to the North?" Well, we'll go to London first. And you'd have to be prepared to leave tomorrow. "I have an airship booked for the both of us."
The boy couldn't believe what he was hearing he was finally going to see the north! M-My friend, Lyra can she come to? She's always wanted to see the north, please it would mean the world to her. Please She's my best friend! She smiled ruffling his hair. "Fine she can come.
An hour later Quentin rushed to find his friend the good news. "Quentin, stop and think before you tell her." Pan said as he followed closely behind him. "There is a chance she may not want to go."
"Jordan College is all she knows." It's all I know too! Quentin argued back. "But we were always going to leave Jordan College, Pan." Besides, you know how much s-she's always wanted to go. I know but. "It will be fine, Pan don't worry. Besides what could go wrong?
Meanwhile back at the gyptains camp Maggie Costa cried over her lost son. "We can't" Ma! Tony pleaded. My Billy...My Billy. "Ma, it's all right. It's all right." Tony said trying to comfort his mother.
Meanwhile while Quentin was asleep in his bed he was startled awake by a knock at the door. "Come in." "Is it safe to...? May I...?" The boy was shocked to see the librarian standing in his room. "Librarian?"
"Who were you expecting at this hour?" Lyra, with my breakfast. "What...? What are you doing here? "You're needed. Rather urgently, as it happens. The boy stared at him confused. Well, quickly, Quentin get dressed.
The boy quickly got changed and followed the Librarian downstairs to the headmasters office. The tired old man gave him a kind smile as he motioned him over. "Ah, good boy, come quickly."
"We haven't long." Y-Your not going to stop me. "I'm leaving Jordan to live with Mrs. Coulter and Lyra and no one... And no-one is stopping you." The boy stared at him surprised. "You know about that?"
"Mrs. Coulter has spoken to me, yes. I arranged it all myself." The part of your life that belongs to Jordan College is coming to an end. "Now, please sit." The boy reluctantly obeyed as he sat across from the man who'd taken him in all those years ago.
"S-So, why am I here then?" Quentin, I promised once to do everything I could to protect you from anyone who might do you harm. The boy looked at him perplexed. "P-Protect me? From what?" The man didn't answer instead he continued to speak ignoring his questions.
"...And the older you've got, the more I've felt the importance of that promise." W-Who did you promise? "I think Mrs. Coulter will do her best by you, but I can't be sure." So I'm going to give you something and I need you to promise that you will keep it private.
"I-I...I-This matters, Quentin." Said the librarian sternly. "We need your word." I-I promise. The headmaster took an old black box from under his desk and handed it to him. The boy opened it surprised to find a gold instrument inside that looked somewhat like a compass. Except it wasn't.
He opened the small square compass like object. it definitely looked like a compass except around the outside of the center where strange symbols that he could not interpret.
"W-What is it?" It's an alethiometer. "One of only six that were ever made." The headmaster said. "I-It's beautiful." Lord Asriel himself brought it to this college when you were just a baby. It's extraordinary.
"W-What does it do?" The boy asked curiously. "It tells you the truth." How? "That, Pan and you will have to learn by yourselves." But please know that it is illegal unless approved by the Magisterium."
"So secrecy is...No, no, no, I-I don't want secrets." The boy said instantly trying to hand it back to the headmaster. "It's my uncle's. He wouldn't want me to have it anyway." Quentin , look at me! The boy looked uncertainly up at the kind old headmaster.
"The powers of this world are very strong. Men and women are moved by tides much fiercer than you can imagine. This hopefully will provide you with some protection, boy." T-Thank you. The boy said giving the man who'd practically raised him a hug. "Go well, Quentin."
"Goodbye, Quentin." The librarian said giving him a firm hug. The boy was almost out the door when the headmaster called out to him. "And...keep your own counsel. Not a word to anyone, not even Mrs. Coulter."
The boy rushed excitedly from the room. "We need to tell Lyra were going to London." Wont she be excited!" The boy asked around if anyone had seen her, but they all shook their heads. "I'm looking for, Lyra." He said asking one of the kitchen staff.
"So am I! She didn't turn up for the breakfast shift!" Lyra. "Mrs. Woodbridge, have you seen Lyra?" No I haven't. Any of you? They all shook their heads giving the boy a sympathetic look. He rushed through the entire building trying to find his friend.
He finally rushed down to the crypts. LYRA! He shouted. Are you down here?! "Where could she be Pan?!" It was then that he found a scarf sitting next to a coffin. He knew very well who it belonged to. Lyra had said it belonged to her mother.
"You don't think the Gobblers have got her, do you?" Usually he didn't believe in fairy tales but now he was starting to think his friend really had been taken, just like that poor little gyptian boy. What was he going to do?!
Meanwhile the gyptains were readying their boats to head to London. "Readying the boats?" Maggie asked the gyptian king. "Are you thinking of leaving, Farder Coram? My son's still out there."
"Farder Coram has done nothing. I am halting the search." John Faa said. "You may be the Western King, but my son is worth more than...The children call them Gobblers." Coram said interrupting her.
"There's nothing saying he's with them. There's nothing saying they even exist!" She said growling defensively. "Billy's a good boy." He's strong because you have been a strong and good mother to him, Maggie. Said Coram.
"And if he could, he'd have found his way back to us. "But he has not. He's just...lost his way and he needs us to find him. "They've taken sixteen of our children so far and that number keeps growing." Said John Faa.
"Searching for him here, when we know he is lost, is foolishness and you know it!" We're going to London; we will fight those Gobblers and get our children back." Come on, he said motioning for Coram to follow. She gave Coram a pleading look but the main looked away as he passed.
Meanwhile Quentin rushed down to meet Mrs. Coulter. "Good, you're early. I like early." It was then that Mrs. Coulter noticed the tears in the boys eyes. What's wrong child? "M-My friend Lyra, she's gone missing."
"I-I-I can't find her anywhere. This isn't like her. Something's happened." What do you mean? "You seem worried, Quentin." Tell me. "I-I-I know the Gobblers... Sh...are just children's stories but...Not here, Quentin.
"But one of the Gyptian children, Billy Costa, he's gone missing, they say it's the Gobblers, so...She sighed giving him a sad look. "With every child's nightmare there's an element of truth, Quentin."
"You're saying the Gobblers could be real? They could have, Lyra?!" The boy said looking fearful. "She was right? It is possible." Then we should call the State Police... No, no, no, no. They'll be of no use at all. "The State Police wouldn't care about a kitchen girl; She'll be miles away by now.
The boy looked as if he were going to start crying again. She pulled the boy aside . "Quentin, listen to me. Do you care for this girl?" Y-Yes. He said wiping tears from his eyes. "Does She care for you?" Y-Yes. Right.
"Then we'll need to take the matter into our own hands. The Gobblers will have taken her to London." I'll set down tracks as soon as we arrive. "The Gobblers are in London?" The boy asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, of course they're in London." Oxford's too small. In London, children can just...She snapped her fingers in front of his face for emphasis. ..disappear. "In Oxford, there's nowhere to hide."
"In London, there's everywhere." And you'll help find her? The boy asked cautiously. "Quentin, look at me. I won't just help, I won't just try, I'll succeed." Right, I'm on the eight o'clock airship. "I expect to see you there. For your sake and for Lyra's.
That afternoon Quentin lay curled up in a ball on his bed crying over his lost friend. "Quentin, the gift the Master gave you. What did he say this did?" Pan asked from his bedside table. The boy gasped almost forgetting he had it.
"It tells the truth!" For the rest of the day the boy stared down at the alethiometer asking it the same question over and over again. "Tell me where Lyra is." Come on. "Tell me where I can find Lyra!"
"The airship is about to leave. If we're going, we have to go now." Pan pleaded with him. "Tell me if the Gobblers have Lyra!" He pleaded but the needles of the alethiometer did not budge. If the Gobblers have her...she's our...best chance of getting her back. Isn't she?
"Pan was right!" Quentin realized. She was his only hope of getting his friend back. He needed to go...Now! A few hours later the boy was running down the field rushing towards the airship, suitcase in hand. WAIT!
Mrs. Coulter appeared at the door with her golden monkey daemon in tow its golden red fur glinting in the fading sunlight. "Quentin, I am so glad you decided to join me. Here, come, take a seat."
"I think it's the best decision for both of us." The boy sat across from her eagerly. "So, where do we start looking for Lyra." Quentin, airships aren't safe spaces to talk, shh. "But we need to start thinking about where to... We're together now." She said interrupting him.
"We'll have plenty of time to discuss whatever you wish." A bit of quiet now would be best. The boy sighed and looked out of the window of the airship. To his surprise he saw dozens of boats heading in the same direction as the airship. "Look, Pan the Gyptians. They're leaving too?"
The young boy yawned and closed his eyes. "I hope I find Lyra soon. I really hope Mrs. Coulter can help me find her." However little did the boy realize that this woman was more than she seemed. However he would soon learn some shocking secrets that would change everything he'd ever known.